Tatar-Bashkir Report: April 22, 1999

Regional Leaders Form Electoral BlocThe first organizational meeting of the Vsya Rossia (All Russia) electoral bloc--formed by Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev, Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov, Ingushetian President Ruslan Aushev, St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, Astrakhan Oblast Governor Anatolii Guzhvin, and Omsk Governor Leonid Polezhaev--was held on 22 April. A day before the meeting, Shaimiev commented on the formation of the bloc in an interview with the Podrobnosti program of Russian RTR TV. Shaimiev said that it would be "unjust" to attribute only his name to the creation of Vsya Rossia. He said the bloc "involved a portion of Russia's regional leaders" and aimed to "secure the unity of governmental bodies in Russia." Shaimiev's advisor, Rafael Khakimov, told the republican press on 22 April that the leaders of the Chelyabinsk, Penza, and Yamalo-Nenetsky regions, the Rossiyskie Regioni faction in the Russian State Duma and Regioni Rossii movement would also join Vsya Rossia. He added in "Golos Rossii" (Voice of Russia) that the bloc formed by Samara Governor Konstantin Titov was hurt by Titov's "desire to be the leader...Vsya Rossia does not put either Shaimiev or Yakovlev in the leading position." Khakimov criticized the "personal ambitions" of Titov, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, and Krosnoyarsk Governor Aleksandr Lebed, "who establish political movements to strengthen their claims for the presidency." He stressed that such claims "encumber relations with the Russian president's staff" and "do not protect the interests of Russian regions." Khakimov stated that the leader of the Rossiyskie Regioni faction in the Duma, Oleg Morozov of Tatarstan, is expected to be named a coordinator of Vsya Rossia.

Shaimiev Says More Details Needed In Skuratov CaseIn an interview with Russian television (RTR) on 21 April, President Shaimiev said that a "crisis of legislation" had created the situation that led to the latest vote in Russia's Federation Council against accepting the resignation of Prosecutor-General Yuri Skuratov. "We must not consider this as a move against the president," he said, as "there are many things [that have gone] unspoken, [and] this continues to put pressure on senators." He stressed that there was "very little in the way of specifics" in Skuratov's statements.

Bashneftekhim Official On Oil ProblemsThe chief of the production department at Bashneftekhim, Nur Sayfullin, told Bashinform that poor technical conditions at the company's plants does not allow it to be competitive. Sayfullin said that a "deficit of oil is a main problem" at Russian chemical plants, since "most of the oil is being exported." Sayfullun offered that the chemical plants in Russia should "deepen the level of oil refining or study the possibility of refining new types of raw materials."